Apocalyptic Tears
by G.A. AnimeFan4
Summary: Because in the end, it's all just a scary movie. Or at least, that's what they try to convince themselves of. AccidentShipping.


_A/N: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL or the characters used. However, I do own what I've written AND the cover image._

_Warning: Extreme spoilers for the newer episodes. This starts out happy-ish, then takes a darker turn. Mentions a little religion, some violent descriptions, a bit of minor cussing, and implied violence. Hence it's Rated T. But far from M. __I promise. _

_I put a lot of effort into this one. Follow through with the end, and you'll see why. Please review if you enjoyed it^_^_

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Rio didn't like scary movies.

And lucky for her, Ryouga took very little interest in them, often saying they were cliché and would then march off like he was God. When one would come on, her brother tended to scoff and leave, and she'd take that as an excuse to "keep him company".

Rio didn't like horror films.

She didn't know why, they just didn't sit well with her. After watching them, even for a few minutes, after one little fright, she'd be crying out loud or curled in a ball trying to reach her happy place mentally. It never worked because the screams from the TV would still penetrate her ears and dammit it terrified her.

Rio didn't like gory shows.

Just couldn't stand them.

.

.

When Ryouga had to leave for a few days because of something the guys were planning, a trip to another city or something, Rio was fine. It would be him, Yuuma, and for some reason they were dragging Kaito along. How they managed that one was beyond her knowledge or even imagination. But her gut told her that Kaito was far from happy.

Actually, picturing those three idiots together on a lovely outing made her laugh with a passion.

And so, after triple checking Ryouga's list for packing (he was just so forgetful) and kissing him on the cheek good-bye (he'd blushed and it was funny), Rio was alone. Actually, it was rather nice to have the home to herself.

She ordered in dinner, secretly not a very good cook herself, after which she plotted herself on the couch. She flipped through the channels on the TV, uninterested in pretty much everything that was on. Friday night television shows were usually disappointing. And it didn't help that her and Ryouga couldn't afford cable or anything fancy like that.

Rio clicked the button and almost shrieked immediately at the sight that greeted her.

God _damn_ it, that was a lot of blood...!

She covered her eyes with one hand and groveled for the remote she'd accidentally dropped after jumping so hard. It was that time of night, Rio supposed, when the scary films would come on. It was dark outside by that point, meaning it was perfect timing to air such movies.

But for the love of all things on TV, why _now_? It's not like her brother was there to save her. And after _seeing_ what she'd just _seen_, Rio _highly_ doubted she'd be sleeping for the next few nights.

She was still trying to find the remote control with her hand securing her eyes shut. The sounds of the dramatic background music as the bad guy approached his next victim filled her ears. It took a while to realize she was holding her breath.

Rio fell off the couch, nearly screaming again, when the doorbell rang.

It echoed around the apartment, and for a brief second, drowned out the sounds of the stupid movie. She sighed, lying there, deciding what to do next. Finally, working up the courage, Rio got to her feet and ran for the door, swerving around the couch and never once looking back for fear of seeing the screen.

"I'm coming!" she shouted, skidding in her socks to get to the door after the bell dinged again. She swung it open to reveal a familiar face.

"Yo," he smirked, lifting a hand in a have-wave, the other buried in his pockets. He was wearing jeans and a red t-shirt with a big, English **4** on it. She scowled at the pun inwardly.

"Thomas!"

He tilted his head a little. "What, did you forget who I was for a second?" He laughed at his own joke. "I'm offended."

Rio puffed out a cheek, glaring at him. "I did not! Quit teasing me like that, you hear?"

He lifted a brow at her. "Never seen you in clothes like that before..."

She blinked. Then again, still confused. Rio looked down and abruptly remembered that she was home alone and had wanted to be comfortable. She was in a white-button up shirt that was somewhat loose on her form with purple pants. She clenched her fingers into fists and frowned deeply at him. "Shut up! I wasn't expecting anyone, okay?" She knew she was blushing, but ignored it.

Thomas smiled. "I'm just joking, it's not like I care." He put on an innocent face next. "Can I come in?"

"Why are you even here?" she asked, moving away from the doorway to invite him in. "It's not often you just come by."

In all honestly, she was amazed. Thomas didn't just send himself over to the Kamishiro residence unless it was important. He and Ryouga weren't exactly 'best friends' and the Arclight boy was still wary around his younger sister. No matter how hard Rio tried, Thomas was still unsure about his relationship with her after what had happened in the past.

People truly did misunderstand him, Rio would think so many times. All Thomas had was a tightly bound knot of guilt and shame in his heart, and a slight fear of _himself_. He'd never said it outright, but Rio could tell because of the way he acted as soon as he was around her. Rio would notice the tensing of his muscles and the over-cautiousness that would cloud his eyes. Every time, it saddened her, since Rio held no such grudge or uncertainty around the guy.

But tonight, Thomas seemed a little more relaxed. Perhaps it was since Ryouga was gone.

"I'm here because," he avoided his gaze, "I heard you were all alone 'cause your brother left and...I wanted to check up on you."

Rio closed her eyes, then opened them, not quite able to respond properly. After a drawn out moment, she stuttered a, "T-Thank you...I guess...but I can take care of myself!"

He nodded. "I know. Can't blame a guy for worrying, though."

"Touché..."

They were quiet a minute, and Thomas seemed to become distracted. "What the hell are you watching?" He could obviously hear the TV in the background, which was still on that horrible channel.

Before Rio would reply, he was already walking into her living room. And before she could tell him off for being so friendly in an unfamiliar place, he spoke.

"I know this..." He cupped his chin, thoughtful. He was just staring at the screen, and all Rio wanted was to leave the place all together. "Aha!" he yelled suddenly, rushing toward her couch, using a hand to balance on the back of it, and leaping over the thing. He landed gracefully on the other side, already in a sitting position. He leaned forward, grinning. "I love this movie!"

"You...what?"

Thomas chuckled and turned to look at her. "One of the best horror movies that you can watch for free this day and age. I've seen it, like, five times already." He frowned then, realizing how he was acting. "I mean...you know...sorry..."

Rio glared at him. "Don't you apologize for liking this sort of thing." She moved to sit by the boy, temporarily forgetting about the television since she was talking to him. "It's not like you sound morbid, it's just preferences."

He took a second to think that over, then smiled once again at her. "If you say so."

The two glanced back the screen. Rio then recalled just what was airing, and let out a pathetic squeak as the scarlet-stained face popped out from the darkness. She instantly covered her mouth with her hand, disgusted that she'd react in such a way in front of someone other than Ryouga.

Thomas was just staring at her. "Rio...do you even like these sort of films?"

"Doesn't matter to me," she insisted, crossing her arms and looking away.

"You're terrified, aren't you?"

"I am not!" she retorted, whipping around to face him. "What makes you even _think_ that?!"

Thomas shrugged and began his list of reasons. "Well, you are shivering enough for me to feel it through the cushion over here... And the TV remote is under the coffee table. You just squealed, which was adorable, but quite out of character for you." At this point, Rio was enraged and embarrassed all at the same time. "There's a pillow on the floor, so I'm assuming you dropped the remote and tried to grab it while not looking at the TV and end up sliding off your seat."

How did he know all this...?

"I'm kidding," he smirked. "I'm just acting smart, now." Rio almost breathed a sigh of relief, then wanted to smack him over the head. "But you do seem a little frightened."

She really was doing a bad job of proving herself to be tough because when the movie screamed, she did, too.

Unconsciously, Rio had curled into a ball and was closing her eyes tightly. Truthfully, she'd forgotten about Thomas until she felt an arm awkwardly wrap around her shoulders and pulled her gently into a comforting side. He was warm and had a sweet aura about him, and Rio felt at ease.

She lifted her gaze to shoot a questioning peek at Thomas, who was smiling sheepishly and directing his maroon eyes away from her. "It'd be terrible fanservice to let a girl stay scared like this..."

"_Baka__...,_" she whispered, settling down into his arms that now both embraced her loosely.

Rio didn't ask why Thomas's hands were shaking ever so slightly. Or why his lips were formed in a tight line after he was finished speaking. She already knew.

Knew that he didn't trust himself to be so close to her.

But nevertheless, Rio acted as though she hadn't taken notice, and snuggled closer to assure him that it was alright. He seemed a bit surprised, but accepted her gesture and relaxed his tensed muscles, as they usually were when he was nearby.

For the rest of the movie, Thomas went out of his way to point each thing that was completely unreal about the plot or the effects and spotted slip-ups by the cast. He even made Rio laugh a couple of times. Needless to say, her fearful tears that had threatened to escape her lids had dried, leaving behind happy glint.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"...For always being my savior."

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"We'll be leaving soon, Thomas."

"Don't be too long, Nii-sama..."

"Yeah...," was their soft reply.

The oldest brother was quick to lead the youngest away from the middle child, unwilling to bother him. Neither had the heart to even attempt such a thing.

.

.

It was a habit he'd worked up over time; keeping his hands buried deep in his pockets. His coat billowed out behind him in the hot breeze.

This dying world was warm. Uncomfortably so.

One would expect the Apocalypse to be icy and cold, unfriendly, with darkness enveloping everything in a hateful blanket of disease, death, and decay. That unending tears would rain to the ground, stained with a deep, ugly scarlet. That everything would be in ruins with only a few survivors who stood no chance with the near future. And that mourning howls and stifled screeches of anguish would ring through the vast, freezing sky that'd been painted black and gray and filled with smoke and dust and gunpowder.

Or at least, that's what Thomas always imagined it to be.

But...that wasn't the case today.

As he stood on the rooftop of one Heartland's tallest buildings, he couldn't help but grimace at the blue sky filled with puffy clouds and the bright, joyous sun filling the summer air. As well as the constant rumble of cars and D-Wheels going by on the roads below along with the buzz of human activity. The world was just too serene.

Thomas liked scary movies. Horror films. Gory shows. They always had the thick plot and the suspense that got your heart beating and the ending that left one to _think_.

But when it was real life, Thomas couldn't hate them more.

.

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Without anyone knowing, never said a thing, he ran to speak with her.

She was far away, and he barely caught sight of her, but he _ran _and pushed himself to run _faster_. His lungs burned by the time he reached her, his legs ached, and his throat was dry as he gasped air through chapped, cracking lips.

She was different.

She was a Barian.

With a mask over her face, one with no visible mouth or nose and it was their to hide the emotions she felt from the outside world, only revealing hard, cold eyes. That was a Barian face. An empty visor that the soul hid behind in order to appear strong. And God did he despise that.

For a moment, he just took in her features. The features of a Barian.

"Why did you come here?"

IV didn't answer. He captured her dark gaze and held a sturdy, expressionless face, trying to mimic her's as authentically as a human could. He felt his muscles tense and eyes turn cloudy as old memories filled his already preoccupied head. His right fist clenched against his will and the damned scar on his face that marked his sins began to throb in a painful attempt to unlock the guilt and shame in his core.

IV wondered if Barians had a heart similar to a human's. On first thought, he'd think it was built differently, put together by a force other than _Kami_, by the spiritual ruler of _their _world. Yet on second, IV realized that this particular Barian had lived the life of a human.

And no one could take that away, whether her heart was shaped abnormally or not.

"I asked why you came here, IV."

He wondered if there was still that human part within her being, if she still loved and cared for her old friends and recalled the life with her 'parents' and still cried because of the horrible things he'd once done to her. Behind that devoid face, did she still _feel_?

Then IV realized: of _course_ she did.

Because she was _Rio_.

"IV."

"Rio."

"You know as well as I do that I no longer answer to that name," the Barian Lord Merag said coolly. "IV, answer my question as to why-"

"You sure have a one-track mind now," IV cut her off, a smirk coming into view. He didn't like having to display such a thing in front of her, but the young man had come prepared to use any means necessary. After all, it would be his last chance to change her mind. Even if he knew it was impossible. But IV would forever be bound to her, would protect her and lift her up when she fell, no matter what the cost. It had been that way ever since the day of the fire. "It should be obvious why I came, anyway."

"Enlighten me."

"Like I said, it shouldn't need explaining." Truthfully, there were simply too many reasons to rattle off at her.

He didn't want her to lose her life. He didn't want her to get hurt, be it by comrades _or_ enemies. He wished that Ryouga could see that this was wrong and give up on this ideal of his. He wanted he and his sister to come back to their side so all of this madness could end and everything could go back normal. He wanted to hold her and beg her to come home. He just _wanted Rio back_.

"Don't you realize that I could kill you if I pleased?" Merag asked, the empty threat lacing her poisonous words.

"I'm not too worried about that," IV replied. His arms had folded across his chest and his interests appeared to be wandering aimlessly. "You don't have the heart. Besides, I'm reserving my efforts for when my _nakama_ truly need me, in which I will gladly join into this war. And if I collapse and cannot stand again, so be it."

Merag seemed unable to respond properly.

"Heh," he mused after a while, catching the Barian's attention once more. "This is finally starting look like The End of the World, huh?"

The sky was black with no stars and the Barian _Sekai _was giving off a disturbing, intimidating light. The road where he and Merag stood was cracked in many places, decorated with stationary cars that civilians had been driving before being sacrificed. They were surrounded by crumbling buildings and bent mailboxes. Shop windows were cracked, even shattered, littering the sidewalks with glass shards. The shock of two worlds colliding had left everything battered, beaten, and desolate.

IV laughed to himself, going on some sort of tangent. "Can you imagine the various reactions of realists and religious people as that light in the sky first showed up? That it's all just some natural occurrence happening in outer space as opposed to it being a sign from _Kami_ above? It's amusing to try and fathom what was going through their heads! Typical human race, though."

Merag stared at him, and if she had been in her human form, IV imagined she'd be frowning. "Your mind works in odd ways, you know that? To be thinking of such a thing when your nemesis is standing right before you is foolish, IV."

By now, IV had smiled. He knew it was sad, pathetic, and forced, but his lips betrayed him, curling into that sorrowful smile that didn't quite reach the rest of him. Merag's eyes widened. But he ignored that reaction, gazing up into the suffering atmosphere that crackled and coughed. He smiled for all he was worth as his own eyes revealed the emotional exhaustion he felt.

And it's because all that IV wanted was for it all to end. For the universe to right itself and to return to the way it had been, with blue skies and happy smiles like it had been only weeks before the war had started. Because everything that IV knew was ending, and he wanted to _end _the _ending_. And he couldn't and he knew that and it killed him inside.

"Neh, Rio. Do me a favor."

Merag narrowed her eyes at the title he addressed her with, but merely questioned, "And what could I possibly be willing to do for you?"

IV smiled at her, that sad but trusting smile that once again took her off guard. "Don't die."

She was silent. And Merag just seemed to break then. The nostalgia, anger, and heartbreak weighed down her shoulders and the unending waves of these weren't hidden from the human who watched from the corner of his vision. It was evident in the way her chin was angled down, staring at the tarred ground with agonizing remorse screaming in her eyes. IV hadn't the ability to bring himself to say a thing for a long while.

Instead, IV gazed out at the bloodied sky as he'd been doing, that sad, sad smile gracing his crimson-dyed lips, parched from the arid air around them. He took in the Barian World glow and the equivalent of smoke that blanketed and choked the forsaken Heartland City that eventually would engulf the rest of Earth. The familiar ache of his scar lingered.

His tone reserved and devoid, IV murmured something. "So this is the Apocalypse..."

"No...," Merag whispered, glancing at him with those scarred, dying eyes. "This is all just..."

IV didn't push her, but patiently waited for Merag to finish her final words before he'd be forced to rejoin his brothers on the opposing side. The side that was still fighting, still losing, and still somehow standing.

Merag was crying.

Alien tears washed down her masked, Barian face, at last letting go of the pain she felt. Her arms were crossed over her abdomen, as if she was trying to protect herself from the outside world, as though she felt vulnerable and scared. Her voice shook and was quiet as she wept the last of her thoughts.

"This is all just a scary movie. And when it ends...it'll leave us to _think_."

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_~Finish~_


End file.
